There’s green the color, and then there’s green as in money. Copious amounts of both are involved in the Dodge Challenger R/T–based 2010 SMS 570 that we recently sampled in Los Angeles. The car wore an unearthly bright “Sour Apple Green” livery, just one of SMS’s so-called “Show Car” hues—there are also vintage-inspired metallics like Maliblue, Lizstick Red, Shark Skin, Pineapple Express Yellow, Plum Insane, and seven others. Speaking of insane, while the paint job is beautifully applied, it costs $18,000 (!) on top of the 570’s $69,431 base price. With its other options, our tester’s total swelled to $93,156. Yikes. In this case, though, when you give a lot of greenbacks, you get a lot of green back.

-

With or without the extravagant paint, the base sticker earns you a car that looks properly terrifying. The modified front clip gives the Challenger’s signature pocket grille a rising lower lip with three rectangular grille inserts, and the lower intake opening has been squared off. Below that is a chin spoiler low enough to pick change up off the street, painted gray to match the lower side sills and the chunky diffuser fascia in back. The back end also features a plastic appliqué over the taillamps that necessitates a pair of add-on LED reverse lights. Coolest of all is the 570‘s new hood, which features Mr. Saleen’s trademark double-diagonal stripes, next to which are sets of red butterfly valves that flip open when the accelerator is goosed. We’re not sure what effect the flaps have on performance, but they proved quite the crowd favorite during one of Hollywood’s famous boulevard crawls.

-

The whole package sits on a lowered suspension that leaves little clearance between the body and the fat 275-series Pirelli tires. They’re mounted to 20-inch SMS wheels and get stopping power from 14-inch front brake rotors with six-piston calipers and 12-inch rears with four pistons.

-

-

Under the hood is Dodge’s ubiquitous 5.7-liter Hemi V-8, to which SMS attaches its patented, intercooled “296 Supercharger” system, raising output to 500 hp at 5700 rpm and 500 lb-ft of torque at 3800 rpm. Six-speed manual and five-speed automatic transmissions are available; sadly, the former ditches the factory Challenger’s pistol-grip shifter for an innocuous leather-and-metal lever with shorter throws but markedly less character. The SMS also gets reupholstered seats and doors, SMS gauge faces, a supercharger gauge pod perched atop the dash, and hand-applied accent stripes to match the exterior, adding some color to the otherwise gloomy cabin.

-

-

Aside from the paint, of course, are the mods worth all that dough? For the answer to that question, plus driving impressions of the car and our full test results, watch for a road test in an upcoming issue of Car and Driver.